2012, “[o]ur people and our children are not for sale.”61 The TVPA
of 2000 was the first comprehensive federal law to address both
domestic and international human trafficking of men, women, and
children.62 This important legislation, as well as the overall federal
policy of treating children as victims within the context of domestic
minor sex trafficking, should be referenced by states when creating
new policies to effectively combat domestic minor sex trafficking.

In February 2013, the TVPA was added as an amendment to
the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”) and passed with the
VAWA in its entirety.63 Reauthorization was essential to maintain
high levels of protection for child trafficking victims, provisions of
victims’ services, and strong punishments for child traffickers.64 If
the TVPA were not re-enacted, federal funding for victims’ services
and law enforcement initiatives would have eventually run out.65 In
addition, Congress’ seventeen-month failure to reauthorize the TVPA
illustrates the importance of a comprehensive state policy enacted by

61 See Remarks by the President, supra note 1.

62 See Schwartz, supra note 58, at 258 (stating that “[t]he TVPA technically can
apply to domestic juvenile prostitutes taken into custody by state police officers”);
see also TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT, supra note 7 (stating that the TVPA
applies to both domestic and foreign adult and juvenile victims of human sex
trafficking).

64 Call Congress on January 11th: Human Trafficking Awareness Day, ATEST:
ALLIANCE TO END SLAVERY & TRAFFICKING (Jan. 3, 2013),
http://www.endslaveryandtrafficking.org/call-congress-january-11th-human-
trafficking-awareness-day (explaining that the failure to re-enact the TVPA “has
left support for crucial programs that protect vulnerable men, women, and children,
provide survivors with services, and prosecute human traffickers, in jeopardy. In
short, it has weakened U.S. leadership in the fight against modern-day slavery and
left millions of people vulnerable and millions enslaved.”).